Wait, How Is Vaseline ‘Advanced’?

Petroleum jelly is petroleum jelly. Vaseline has been on the market since 1870, and it hasn’t really changed in all that time. That’s why reader Will was a little bit confused when he noticed that the front of his tube of Vaseline Lip Therapy bragged about being an “advanced formula,” when really it’s the same darn stuff that’s been sold as Vaseline since 1870.

“It’s been used medicinally for more than 140 years,” he notes. “Or maybe they’re referring to the ‘flavor.'” That depends: is it a nice flavor? Obviously, what we’re missing here is that the “advanced” part is putting it in a little tube.

We wrote to Unilever, corporate overlords of Vaseline, to see whether they have any answers for us. We will update our post if they do.